Monday, October 31, 2016

October
2016 marks the 5th year of SNL’s Month of Writing (MOW), a
celebration and challenge which draws much inspiration from National NovelWriting Month (NANOWRIMO). Each asks participants to devote time to writing in
effort to meet a word count goal. In NANOWRIMO, the goal is at least 50,000
words. But for SNL’s Month of Writing, participants set their own goal. It is
an endurance challenge. It is a dance marathon, not a dance recital. If you
have ever seen They Shoot Horses Don’t
They, you get a glimpse of how grueling such a challenge can be. Despite
not resulting in the prettiest product, such challenges provided many benefits (if competitors engage in them.)

I did not
actively participate in the Month of Writing for several years. As an adjunct
instructor working multiple gigs, I had a built in excuses that mirrored Larry
Burton’s excuse for not participating in NANOWRIMO. He had a heavy teaching
load, research projects, and family obligations. Unfortunately, these
obligations never really went away and the novel he wanted to write remained a
dream. His daughter (a college student and multiple year NANOWRIMO participant)
finally convinced him. His experience taught him many valuable lessons
including “scheduling makes [writing] possible” and “progress motivates.”

As a
creative writer, I am often reminded that so many great books were written with
just a few hundred words every day. I strive for that discipline, but often
fall short. So many of our students juggle work and school while they are
sandwiched between the demands of the younger and older family members.
Burton’s lessons are valuable insights for how to complete longer projects like
Advanced Projects or ILPs. Of course, these lessons are taught in Writing
Workshop and Writing for Competence (always implicitly, often explicitly.) But
Month of Writing is a chance to practice them, to experience them outside of
the classroom setting.

Burton’s
novel went unwritten for so many years not because of his inability to complete
it, but because of the difficulty in starting it, the seeming impossibility to
find time for it. This does not surprise me. I have known many graduates of MFA
in Writing programs, who have stopped writing since they no longer have the
structure of writing classes. The distinction between writing for class and
cultivating a writing practice necessary to independently complete writing
projects is difficult.

This is
why the more non-classroom related support we can provide students the better.
Month of Writing provides solid support for participants. They get frequent
reminders to keep writing. The requirement to report their weekly word counts
is a way to hold them accountable for their writing. This reporting has the
additional benefit of making them aware of how much progress they have made
toward their goal. Another avenue of support comes from the Writing Center.
Students are aware of the one-on-one tutoring services they provide. But they
also help facilitate writing groups that meet every two-weeks or every month.
Group members not only share their progress, but they receive peer feedback and
support on their writing. For students who can not meet in person, arranging online
accountability groups could also help complete their projects. The Australian
researchers Burke and Settles find that NANOWRIMO participants of online
writing challenge groups who engage with socially do better at completing their
challenge. We can better facilitate the social component of writing for our
students. And to bring this full circle, at the Craft of Composing panel (the
kick-off event for MOW), Ann Stanford spoke highly of her accountability group
the Grind.

The Month
of Writing ends not with the hope of a slackened pace of writing. But with
the hope, we can encourage students to access services that will help them keep
its spirit alive the other eleven months of the year.

Works
Cited

Burke,
Moira and Burr Settles. “Plugged in to the Community.” Communities and Technologies. Proc. Of Fifth International Conf. on
Communities and Technologies. 29 June – 2 July 2011, QUT at Brisbane,
Australia: ACM., 2011. PDF File.

Friday, October 28, 2016

When I arrived at the DePaul Writers Guild Aloud! open-mic on October 20th, current students and alumni were already gathered, waiting. They tried to keep their voices low as the Loop Writing Center tutors finished their work. But the overwhelming sense of camaraderie could not tamp their exuberance.

Later SNL students from Steffanie Triller’s Write Where You Are Advanced Elective class joined the event. The regular attendees were cheerful and supportive. It was a pleasure to watch them interact with themselves and the newer SNL readers.

Although the Writers Guild holds an Aloud! reading every quarter, this day was special. It was dedicated to both NCTE’s National Day on Writing and The School for New Learning’s Month of Writing. A common thread through all of these events is an idea that accountability helps us write. If we have a group of writers to encourage and push us, writing becomes easier.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Writing can seem like a
solitary task. But at its core it is an active and engaged form of
communication. This is something that Michelle Navarre-Cleary, Steffanie
Triller Fry, and Katie Wozniak understood when they helped create a series of
videos in which students and faculty talk about various topics about writing at
SNL and generally.

Recently, many of these
videos have been placed in a Vimeo folder. They are an invaluable resource for
SNL students and writers in general.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

We at SNL Writing had a wonderful time kicking off the 5th Annual Month of Writing with our Craft of Composing panel on September 29th. For those of you who were unable to make it to this edifying event, the panel is now available online!

It's also not too late to participate in the Month of Writing! SNL students, faculty, and staff can register and write 1000 words or more to earn raffle entries toward our grand prizes: a two-credit scholarship for students and a $75 gift card for faculty and staff! Click here for more information and here to register. Happy writing!

Every quarter, SNL Writing offers Writing Boot Camps to help students complete their assignments. Faculty-led Boot Camp sessions are designed for undergraduate or graduate SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or a current project they wish to complete. This fall, we offer the following sessions:

Saturday, October 22, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at O'Hare

Saturday, October 22, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Naperville

Tuesday, November 1, 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Loop

Saturday, November 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Loop

Register for one or more of these free sessions by emailing SNLevents@depaul.edu; walk-ins are also welcome. Please bring a flash drive, a copy of your incomplete contract (if needed), and all prior assignment preparation (including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format). Students should also let their faculty mentor know that they plan to attend if they are working on an assignment for an incomplete grade.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Teaching Commons Workshop Series will hold two screencasting workshops this month presented by Margaret Poncin of WRD and Edward Evins of the UCWbL. See below for the "Feedback in Motion: Screencasting Student Feedback" description and event information.

Compared to written comments, video commentary can provide more efficient and effective feedback on student work, encourage additional growth and revision by preventing misunderstandings, and allow students to feel a more personal connection with their instructors. Not only that, it doesn’t require sophisticated video editing skills or additional time on the part of the instructor. No matter what the discipline—art history, sociology, biology or theater—screencasting can be used for a wide variety of assignments including research projects, digital and multimodal assignments, recorded performance and beyond.

In this workshop, the presenters will demonstrate a few different strategies for giving feedback as well as a brief pedagogical rationale. Then, participants will gain hands-on experience working with screencasting tools to create videos for students. Participants are encouraged to bring samples of student work to use during the workshop.

By the end of the session participants will:

Understand several strategies for using screencasting software to give feedback.

Create a sample feedback video and understand how to post it to D2L.

Evaluate the different opportunities afforded by video feedback versus traditional written comments.

Identify potential occasions for using video feedback in their courses.

The first workshop will be held this Friday, October 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in room 11013 of the DePaul Center in the Loop. The second will take place on Friday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in room 301 of the SAC in LPC. Click here and here for more information about both events.

Monday, October 10, 2016

SNL faculty member and DePaul alum Kristin FitzPatrick will be a featured presenter at this week's A Celebration of the Short Story event. Listen to her read from her collection My Pulse is an Earthquake (Vandalia, 2015) and discuss her craft.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

After the
long summer, I am finally able to pull out my comfortable sweaters and jackets.
I want to enjoy the moment and just watch the leaves change color. But after a
few minutes in the office, I realize it is time to start planning our Winter
Quarter courses.

The UCWbL
has already started taking requests from DePaul Faculty for Winter Quarter
Writing Fellows. This is a resource it is best to ask for as soon as possible.

If you are
interested, you can find more information about the program and make your
request here: